Leeds Playhouse – until 2 November 2019
Reviewed by Sally Richmond
5*****
There Are No Beginnings was written for, and is about, the women of Leeds in the 1970s and for all women today. The fantastic all female cast: Helen (Natalie Gavin), June (Julie Hesmondhalgh), Fiona (Jesse Jones) and Sharon (Tessa Parr) – through their honest and authentic performances, give us an insight into the stories and lives of the courageous and brave women who lived between the years of 1975 and 1980 (when the so-called Yorkshire Ripper disrupted and devastated the county). The audience gets a genuine (through the writer’s extensive research / interviews) account into how these women went about their everyday business and lives; whilst desperately trying not to become enveloped and stifled by the constant terror and fear that shrouded the streets they lived and walked on.
Written by Charley Miles and directed by Amy Leach, There Are No Beginnings shines the spotlight not on The Yorkshire Ripper, or even his victims but all women who lived in Leeds at that time. It examines how their relationships with each other were affected and how deeper bonds created as they began to depend on each other more, and less on men.
Helen, a vulnerable young prostitute, who we meet aged 14 at the beginning of the play, characterises a female who in real life has now been forgotten and discarded like the men who used and abused her. Natalie Gavin gives an outstanding performance of this damaged teenager and in doing so, finally gives the beautiful tragic girl her voice! Her edgy brave persona is so obviously a fake front as Gavin’s arresting portrayal cleverly reveals a sad and lost little soul who is just trying to survive whilst grabbing any bits of love that are thrown at her.
As June, the caring matriarch, Julie Hesmondhalgh delivers an absolutely flawless performance as a strong Leeds woman, who was trying to protect girls at risk in her job, alongside looking after her vibrant and dreamy teenage daughter. We feel her worry, her fear but mostly her resilient and resounding strength – to keep going and to keep the faith in that everything will return back to normal soon.
Humour, beauty and hope come in the form of Sharon, our mischievous but sweet teenager who is mooning over Donny Osmond and thinking about wedding bells. Throughout the play we see her transform into a woman and a woman with views and a voice – which she uses to becomes an activist who joins the feminist movement. Sharon is a total contrast to Helen and Helen’s plight becomes even more startlingly obvious when they interact, bringing moments of warmth but ones that are heavily laced with sadness due to Helen’s unfair and unfortunate life.
Fiona is also a strong but fiercely independent woman, who at times, is accused of overstepping the mark due to her burning ambition and desperation to get inside Milgarth Police Station. The only other police we encounter and in fact the only men we encounter are voices on tape recordings, which are accompanied by flashing, broken lights. These are intermittently aired and switched on throughout the play; giving a sharp haunting reminder of when ‘he’ roamed the towns and cities of Yorkshire.
There Are No Beginnings gives us the perspective of what life was like for the ordinary women of Leeds: mothers, working women, teenagers, students and women who did what they had to do to get by. They were brave whilst at their most vulnerable because they had to just get on and live to defy the smothering heavy fog of oppression and fear that the Ripper brought to their doorsteps. The solidarity of women shines through in this play and a respect for those who endured life in these times. May we never forget the murdered victims and their families, RIP beautiful ones – you are remembered.